them. The huge mound of rock was much less imposing than it had been the previous afternoon, and the two fell to with a will, the stiffness of their muscles slowly easing as they began to tackle the problem of handling the larger boulders.

It was Nengwe who hit upon the idea of clasping the larger rocks between his forepaws and slowly shuffling them out of the way with an odd gait that sent Falana into giggles.

“Nengwe, what are you doing with that rock? Does it excite you that much?”

The lion paused, panting hard, and shot her a glare. Adjusting his grip, he pushed the rock another few inches, clasping it before him in an almost embarrassingly close embrace. “And it’s not doing a thing for me except wearing me out. As far as I can see, there’s not much difference between it and a lioness at the moment.”

Falana chuckled again, helpless to stop herself. “That’s because you’re trying too hard. If only one of you is doing all the work, of course it’s no fun.”

Nengwalamwe shoved the boulder another foot and stopped, gasping. “Well, it’s certainly not going to get up and walk over the edge itself. What’d you expect?”

Falana shook her head. “Well no, not like that.” She slipped over and reared back. She fell on the rock, gripping the rock with her own forepaws. “Now, don’t just shove at it. If we move together, it’ll go easier.” Raising her ears, she tipped her head at the lion. “Come here.”

He edged forward but something held him back.

“Don’t go all shy on me. Help me!” Still he held back. “Come on Nengwe, get behind me and help.”

Nengwe took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he lifted his forequarters from the still cold rock, bringing them down on Falana’s warm back.

“Now, give me your forepaws.”

His heart racing, the lion set his paws on the lioness beneath him. She slipped hers further up the rock so that both their paws bore directly on the rock.

“Ready?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

“OK…? set… go!” Grunting, the two sent the stone rolling toward the edge. Its own inertia carried it on. They released their grip and watched it dip out of sight as their forequarters fell back to the ground. A low thump sounded moments later, heard through the air and felt through their pads. Both lion and lioness laid their ears back.

“I hope no one was under that,” he breathed.

Falana snorted. “If I’m lucky, Mtundu was.”

“What?” He trotted to the edge quickly, peering down in anxiety.

“Relax,” she said, laughing softly. “Sit down and catch your breath, and then we’ll have at it again. Just don’t go biting my neck….”

The two lay down for a moment, enjoying the ever present breeze that coursed across the promontory, something largely stifled by the dense grasses below. Falana had to admit this rock might have had a few positive points about it. She couldn’t quite see what the rock pile held for Nengwe, but if it took his mind off those dogs it had to be a good thing. Nevertheless, she could not deny a slight curiosity as to what might be behind the rocks… did Nengwe know something about it that she didn’t?

“Oh, nonsense,” she muttered.

”What?”

Falana winced. “Err… nothing. My jaws are just sore. Those rocks are sharp, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

He offered her a cockeyed grin. “I’ve been noticing for a while now. I was just waiting for you to complain before I did.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means the sooner we can clear all this away, the sooner we can really rest C’mon.” He stood up, grunting as muscles he’d forgotten he had made themselves known.

Falana groaned audibly. “Don’t you ever rest? Mother would kill me if she knew. We’ve been at it since yesterday! What’s so important about clearing away a few rocks? Come on, Nengwe.”

“We’ll find out what’s important about it when we clear away the rocks, won’t we? We’ve got this far haven’t we?” He turned to the few remaining pieces before them. “Say, there’s only a few left. But that big one right there is really what’s in the way, I think. Do you think if we move that, the others will roll out of the way?”

“They’ll roll right over us, more than likely.” She mulled it over for a moment. “I suppose it’s worth a try, but after this one, I’m through for the day, whether it’s cleared or not. This isn’t natural for lions, you know. I’m exhausted. You know what happens then.”

“Since when are you worried about following the rules?”

“Since we started moving rocks like some idiot monkey.” She shook her head. “I’m just glad there are no other lions to see us doing this. We’d be laughed out.” He was barely listening to her, his attention focused on the rock before them. “Oh, damn it. If it means that much to you Nengwe, let’s get it over with.”

Circling round to one side, she watched as he pushed his forequarters off the ground and clasped the rock in a firm grip. Nengwe’s eyes narrowed, his teeth gleaming in a clenched grimace as he strained. “I don’t think I can move it.”

“Well, wait half a moment and let me get it from this side.” She studied her own end of the boulder, the biggest they’d moved so far, and then placed her forepaws surely upon its surface, her toes splaying outward as she flexed the muscles in her paws. “Okay, now… just like a wildebeest. We’ll grip it and use our weight to twist to the side and out, just like if we were trying to drag it down. Except we have to pull up first. Understand?”

“No, but I’ll take your word for it.” He adjusted his grip and then looked up to her expectantly.

Falana stared at him for a moment, realising he was surrendering the initiative to her, trusting her word without making a smart comment. “You don’t want to do it another way?”

“My way didn’t work, did it?” he shrugged. “Your idea sounds good enough to me.”

She nodded and then paused, looking back to him carefully. “Make sure you pull when I tell you. If you don’t, this bloody thing is liable to flatten me.”

Their eyes met. “I won’t hurt you, Falana. I promise.”

She nodded, looked back at the rock, firming her grip and taking a deep breath. “This is going to go quick when it goes. When I say run, you run, right?”

Nengwalamwe’s eyes flitted momentarily from side to side. “Where to?”

“Nengwe! Away! Run away! Where’d you think I meant?”

“Away… right.…”

Falana uttered an exasperated growl. “Come on, pull!”

They pulled. The rock shifted a little. Nothing happened.

“This isn’t happening,” Nengwe gasped. “It’s never going to go.”

“Don’t you give up on me now, lion!  Come on, put your back into it! Pull!”

Nengwe looked into Falana’s eyes. They were concentrated on the rock. For her, the rock was all that mattered. Falana and the rock, which would give first? He pulled. The rock began to lose the struggle. It moved, a little. Falana put even more effort, Nengwe saw in her a determination that he’d not seen in any lioness. He liked what he saw; he gave his power to her struggle. There was movement above, a shifting, a settling. Then the rock moved a little more; loose stones tumbled down behind the pile. One landed on Falana’s back. She took no heed of it and pulled on. Her effort now was fading; Nengwe’s redoubled.

More stones falling. The rock shifted more easily, but still no more than half its length. Then, far above, there began a low rumble. Falana looked up, but only for a moment. ”RUN!” The rumble grew; the clattering stones became a crashing. The air clouded with dust. Nengwe turned to run; took two hurried paces then was smashed over by something clawing, biting into his near hindquarter. He tumbled on to his offside and forward, carried on by his own momentum like a zebra struck by his mother. Rocks crashed over him, clawing at him, but none landed a killing blow. One tore at his ear, now filled with a shattering roar far louder than any he could have made. Then it faded leaving silence. Through the dust he made out the shadows of rocks shake and then fell still. He coughed and shook. It just made the cloud denser. Through it a familiar shape slipped effortlessly, closing on him.

The voice came thinly, distantly. “What part of ‘run’ don’t you understand?” She sniffed at him, moving back to his hindquarters. “That’s nasty! Are you all right Nengwe?”

“I think so.”

She bent down and licked at his haunch. Blood ran clean from a paw wide wound, congealing dark amidst the dust and stone shards in his pelt. “From now on…” she licked again. “…you rest. You got that?”

The dust began to settle out in the mid-morning air. They could see specks glinting, dancing in the sharp light. Nengwe lay still. Falana stopped mid-lick and looked up. Where before there had been a wall of rock and rubble, there was now a dark hole in the great rock’s face with only a rough mound of rock before